1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the remote monitoring, diagnosis and control of machines using connection and connectionless modes of communication and is more particularly related to monitoring, the control and diagnosis of business office machines such as copiers, printers, and facsimile machines.
The invention is further related to assuring that outgoing connectionless communications are received by the appropriate entity and attempting communication using an alternate mode if a connectionless communication is not received.
2. Discussion of the Background
U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,779 discloses the controlling of business office devices by a remote diagnostic station. However, the method of communication in this system and other known systems for controlling machines such as business office machines is to establish a connection between the machine and the diagnostic station and to use a connection-mode of communication.
The use of a dedicated communication connection between the machine and diagnostic station is more expensive as compared to the use of the Internet. On the other hand, the Internet has disadvantages in that some forms of communication over the Internet are slow and may be delayed, and have a problem in that the Internet is not a secure mode of transmission (i.e., communications may be monitored by others). Further, because of the nature of the Internet, electronic mail communications transmitted over the Internet do not always reach their intended destinations. In addition, the connection-mode access to an installed machine from the Internet may not be possible because of a security block by a firewall. However, even with the delays of a connectionless-mode of communication over the Internet, the inventor has found that the Internet can still provide a suitable medium for communication for some applications.